Subject Nine
by OpenSourceArtist
Summary: A baby adopted by the first agent of Cerberus. A child raised in the Teltin facility on Pragia. A man trained who would one day become the Illusive Man's most trusted operative.
1. Chapter 1

**Subject Nine**

 **Chapter 1**

 **2174 CE**

"Why don't you start from the beginning, perhaps it will help you remember," the woman sitting across from him with a data pad in her slim fingers suggested, the black and glossy uniform that she wore hugging the contours of her body.

He sat there as the vessel was enroute to an unknown destination, a thermal blanket draped over his shoulders while he shoveled down his fifth food ration trying unsuccessfully to satiate his hunger. He nodded his head in response, taking another ration from the container sitting beside him as he attempted to recall the memories of his past. The seventeen year old tilted his head back, closing his eyes while he continued to chew on the unsavory bar, and slowly but surely he began to recount how it all started.

His biological mother, she died after giving birth to him, complications from exposure to element zero. However, it didn't take long for him to find a new home. A scientist, Celeste Esposito, became his legal guardian only a month after his birth, and from that moment on he was known as Dante Esposito. She had several offers from many different companies for her expertise, but a particular manifesto had circulated on the news that immediately grabbed her attention. It spoke to her in more way than one, perhaps now more than ever after she had adopted a brand new baby boy. An individual referred to only as the Illusive Man, warned that an alien attempt at human genocide was inevitable. He had called for an army, a Cerberus to guard against invasion through the Charon relay. Celeste had lost both her parents and her brother in the First Contact War earlier that year, all of whom had been officers in the Systems Alliance. She disregarded all job offers and sought out this Illusive Man, eventually making contact with him and becoming the first of many to join this new organization called Cerberus.

After his third birthday, Celeste had been assigned as the lead scientist for a new project. They had packed up their things and moved to the newly built Teltin facility on Pragia. The Illusive Man had tasked her with improving the biotic potential in humans. While Dante had certainly been exposed to elemental zero in-utero, no biotic capability had been observed yet, as such the most his mother did with him was nothing more than mental exercises. The same was true with half of the other children who lived at the facility. All of them had been sent there by their parents, and most had been orphaned for the same reason he had been. The children in which biotic abilities had been observed were constantly tested, both physically and mentally, but Celeste had made sure that everyone there was well taken care of, which the children had appreciated immensely. The environment at the facility was very positive and with each new day came new discovery, which made the scientists all the more excited.

However, with most good things there was always a catch. There was always a downside, a caveat, when something sounded too good to be true. A scientist who worked under Celeste, an unpleasant man whom everyone referred to simply as Angersol, always managed to take the joy out of the room whenever he was around. It had infuriated Angersol beyond belief that he had to work _under_ Celeste. After being blacklisted by the scientific community on Earth, the only job he could get was working for Cerberus, and at the time the Illusive Man couldn't be as selective as he wanted about who he hired. Though with Celeste leading the project and all the other scientists involved, their expertise more than made up for Angersol's inadequacies.

By the time Dante was eight years old, there was an increasing number of children who were sent to the facility either due to mere elemental zero exposure or inclinations of biotic manifestation. They were making steady progress and Celeste was submitting weekly written reports to the Illusive Man on any and all developments. It wasn't until a little girl by the name of Jacqueline arrived that everything at the facility changed. The scientists had long since discovered a way to measure biotic potential in children, whether or not biotic capabilities would manifest was anyone's guess, but Jacqueline's potential was the highest they had ever recorded. This of course created a new wave of excitement for everyone.

In the meantime, Angersol was becoming less useful with each passing year. As Cerberus continued to grow, the influx of better scientists whom the Illusive Man didn't initially have the benefit of, meant that Angersol could finally be replaced. After accessing Celeste's terminal, Angersol managed to read a message from the Illusive Man which had said as much. Already bitter and angry at his situation, the idea of getting fired again was the last straw. For weeks, Angersol tried to think of some way to change his luck and after watching a news report on batarian slavers he concocted a plan.

It only took a month after Jacqueline's arrival for Angersol to enact his plan. He had managed to get in contact with a group of batarian slavers. He would sabotage the facility's power grid at the exact moment that the slavers would arrive at Teltin. Dante would never forget that day, not for the rest of his life, for it was on that fateful day that he lost his mother, Celeste. The batarians raided the compound, killing all the scientists save for Angersol. All of the children were locked in their rooms, and Angersol took over the project. After reading through Celeste's previous reports to the Illusive Man, it wasn't difficult for him to fake them, in order to give Cerberus the impression that all was well.

The atmosphere of the facility went from positive and fun, to torturous and painful. Dante was on the receiving end of some especially painful and agonizing experiments, in all likelihood due to the fact that he was Celeste's son, and Angersol had years of bitterness towards her to take out on him. Apparently, Angersol planned on creating the most powerful human biotics possible that he would then sell to the batarians as slaves, and with mind control chips implanted in their brains it would make both Angersol and the batarians wealthy beyond measure. Perhaps their saving grace was the fact that until the children were ready to be sold, the mind control chips wouldn't be implanted, because it could interfere with the results of the experiments.

Angersol's diamond in the rough was Jacqueline, now referred to only as Subject Zero. Angersol had given similar designations to all of the children, either to make the project as impersonal as possible, or perhaps to degrade the children by denying them their true names. Dante had been known as Subject Nine, and often the most dangerous and risky of experiments were always tested on him before Angersol applied them to Subject Zero. In addition, the environmental controls for each subject's room was always in a state of flux; one day it would be unbearably hot and the next it would be unbearably cold. There were days that Dante would be restrained by his wrists, forced to remain standing, while his feet were submerged in cold water. Sleep deprived and with aches all over his body, he would be forced to fight Subject Zero who was always filled with narcotics to encourage her aggressiveness. Dante, whose biotic capabilities were initially nonexistent, was forced to fight intelligently if he didn't want to be killed. After his biotics manifested themselves, fighting Subject Zero was slightly less difficult, but even if he had the benefit of being healthy and getting a full night's rest, her power was still marginally stronger than his, so he was still required to fight with the utmost caution.

As the years passed by, the experiments became increasingly sadistic and dangerous. Perhaps Angersol was going further and further over the edge, perhaps the stress and pressure of batarians looking over his shoulder was finally getting to him, Dante couldn't say with much certainty. By the time Subject Zero had reached puberty, Angersol was forcing the two of them to have sex on a daily basis after they both would fight in the pit, in order to measure its effects on biotics. Dante's room would be filled with gas to knock him unconscious and he would wake up on a metal bed, with both his wrists and ankles in metal restraints, filled to the gill with sexual stimulants. Subject Zero would be in the same room with him, unrestrained, and also pumped full of sexual stimulants. She, in all likelihood, had far higher doses to minimize the chance of her killing him, given his defenseless state. It was during one of these sessions in which Dante was able to speak with her, as Angersol had accidentally given her a lower dosage than usual. Her coherency allowed them to whisper to one another and subsequently plan an escape. After they finished, the room was filled with the same gas that knocked them out in their rooms, and after holding their breath for as long as they could to try and minimize the amount of gas they inhaled, a pair of batarians entered the room to take them back to their prison cells. While they were both briefly knocked out from taking in a small amount of the gas, they were able to wake up earlier than usual and easily managed to kill their escorts.

Unfortunately, since their rooms were on opposite ends of the compound, they had to fend for themselves until they could find one another and free the other children. It was during this time that Subject Zero had gotten lost in her own anger, rage, and fear and started indiscriminately killing everyone in sight. By the time Dante had reached her she attacked him without hesitation. The arrival of more batarians grabbed her attention and after killing them she ran away, ignoring Dante who was calling for her to stop. Dante managed to access a terminal and send a message to Cerberus, but he was unsure if it had gone through because it was destroyed almost immediately after he hit send; several bullet holes were left in the smoking and sparking terminal. Angersol stood at the other end of the room, pistol in hand, with a murderous look on his face, spitting and yelling about how Dante had ruined his plans. Dante didn't spend much time listening after that, his barrier absorbed all the bullets fired from Angersol's pistol until it overheated and Dante caved his skull in with a biotically enhanced punch. Dante had proceeded to free all of the other children in the facility and ushered them into a single room, locking it behind him as he defended his position against wave after wave of batarian slavers.

"And that's when you found me, Miranda," Dante said, finishing his eighth food ration, a pile of wrappers in the container where the rations had once been.

The operative nodded solemnly in response as she finished writing out her report, "We will be docking within five minutes."

Dante simply rested his head against the chair he was sitting in, eyes closed as he tried to fight off sleep. Although his hunger was quelled for the moment, he couldn't remember the last time he had bathed, or had a full night's rest, in an actual bed, and he was hoping it wouldn't be long until he could enjoy both. He felt the large vessel shake lightly as it docked, the clamps attaching to the ship as Miranda motioned for him. She offered him a shoulder, but he politely declined, deciding to walk under his own power despite how weak he felt. He ignored the eyes that followed him as he walked through the ship. After exiting the ship he noticed they were on a space station, and it was massive, but unusually vacant. He would have expected far more people on a station of this size, but he didn't give it any further thought as Miranda led him through a series of doors and elevators.

When they arrived at their destination, Dante was amazed by the sight. They walked into an immaculately clean room that was bare save for the semi-transparent computer screens and single chair in front of them. The most amazing thing about the room was the view; just beyond the screens was what appeared to be a red supergiant, but beyond that Dante had no idea where they were. After a moment, Dante finally realized that there was a person sitting in the lone chair, seemingly looking at the screens in front of him. They continued walking forward until Miranda was standing beside the man, with Dante standing behind her.

"Sir," she greeted.

"Thank you Operative Lawson, you may go," the man replied, to which she gave a curt nod before exiting the massive room.

The man with greying hair and a seemingly expensive suit took a drag from his cigarette and released a slow breath before speaking, "I'm relieved to see that you and the other children are safe."

Dante wasn't exactly sure how to respond so he simply nodded his head, unsure if the man could see the gesture in his peripheral vision.

"I owe you an apology, Mr. Esposito. I failed to recognize that something was amiss at Teltin and I failed to secure you and the other children's safe release. I am truly sorry for what occurred," the man said, now looking straight at Dante, his steely blue eyes looked prosthetic but Dante didn't dwell on that thought for long.

"Why…" he said with a pause, "why didn't Cerberus do anything?" he questioned.

The man took another drag from his cigarette, "We did, Mr. Esposito."

Rather than elaborate, the man pressed several keys and a new screen came to life directly in front of them and a video began to play.

The face of Dr. Angersol appeared and judging by the look on his face he was both angry and scared, "You will release the children into Cerberus custody, Dr. Angersol," Dante could hear the man sitting beside him say in the recording.

Dr. Angersol's initial reaction was anger, but judging by how the demand was said, fear began to trickle over his features, "Illusive Man," Angersol spat, attempting to put on a brave front but failing quite miserably. "I'm not releasing anyone unless the sum of one hundred million credits is transferred to the following account!"

There was silence on the other end, but Dante could hear the faint sound of the Illusive Man smoking on a cigarette, "I do not negotiate with traitors, Dr. Angersol. You have forty eight hours to release the children."

Panic flicked across Angersol's face before he attempted to cover it up, "If Cerberus tries anything I'll kill them!"

"Forty eight hours, Dr. Angersol, not a minute more," the Illusive Man replied, the transmission cut before Angersol could respond.

"This took place precisely one day ago," the Illusive Man stated.

"Why did it take you so long to do anything? Why did you give him so much time? You could have stopped him before…" Dante questioned, voice trailing off into silence as he thought about the death of his mother.

The Illusive Man closed his eyes and took a drag from his cigarette. "My mistake cost the lives of every scientist we had at Teltin. They were wonderful people who shared my beliefs. I was responsible for their well-being and it is because of my mistake that cost them their lives," he replied before pausing, looking up in thought. "Your mother was the very first person to join my organization and I will never forgive myself for what I allowed to happen…but I can assure you, I will never make that mistake again."

Dante could hear the regret and anger in the man's words, it was obvious he cared about his mother and the other scientists assigned to the project. Dante could just imagine his mother telling him that the only ones responsible for what happened was Angersol and the batarians, both of whom had paid the consequences. Dante closed his eyes and let out a sigh and with it a little bit of his anger and bitterness left too.

When he opened his eyes he could see that the Illusive Man was looking up at him, waiting patiently for Dante to regain his bearings. "As for why we gave Dr. Angersol so much time, we contacted the batarians with whom Dr. Angersol was collaborating with and offered them more credits than they would have made selling you and the others as slaves, half up front and the remainder after all of you were safely returned," the Illusive Man replied, taking another drag on his cigarette.

" _That explains why Angersol was so worried that day,"_ Dante mused silently.

"And then we had received the message you had sent and I immediately dispatched the team I had assembled," the Illusive Man continued.

Dante nodded in understanding, "Are the other kids alright?" he asked.

"Physically they will recover, mentally it will take time. They will be returned to their parents after our doctors have cleared them," the Illusive Man replied, putting out his cigarette in the ash tray on the arm of his chair.

"What about me?" Dante asked.

The Illusive Man stood from his chair and turned to face Dante directly, "We will take you anywhere you want to go, should you wish to leave."

Dante looked down, his eyes landing on the Illusive Man's expensive looking shoes, wracking his already abused brain as he tried to decide what to do. His thoughts drifted to his mother, how much he missed her, how much he hated what happened to her, it left him with mixed feelings towards the organization she was happily employed by. The only thing he had left of her was Cerberus, and by all accounts they never intended for anything to happen to her.

"And if I wish to stay?" Dante asked, looking back up and meeting the Illusive Man's eyes.

He smiled softly, "Then we would welcome you."

Dante found himself mirroring the Illusive Man's smile, finding it contagious, before he extended his hand, "Well then, when do I start?"

The Illusive Man chuckled softly before grabbing Dante's hand and shaking it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Subject Nine**

 **Chapter 2**

 **2174 CE**

After being led out of the Illusive Man's office, if one could call it an office, Miranda escorted him to the station's medical facility. While he had undergone a brief checkup while enroute to the station by the vessel's doctor, its equipment couldn't compare to what the station had at its disposal. He and Miranda once more went through a series of doors and elevators until eventually they arrived to a now empty medical bay; apparently it was very late in the day and almost everyone was asleep in bed.

"If you could remove your clothes and lie down, Mr. Esposito," Miranda said as she walked over to a console and began turning on the equipment for the closest medical bed.

Dante remained frozen where he stood, fear and anxiety washing over his body, breaking out into a cold sweat. His eyes stared at the medical bed and he felt like he was back at the Teltin facility, hearing Angersol's voice through a speaker as the wicked man conducted test after test on his body, ignoring Dante's screams of pain and pleads for mercy. And just like being woken from a nightmare, his mind was brought back to the present as Miranda's hand touched his shoulder. He couldn't stop his body from flinching, a reflex he developed from being conditioned for so long; when most forms of contact brought a person pain, then naturally that is what the body would expect.

"You're safe here, Mr. Esposito, no one is going to hurt you," Miranda said reassuringly as her bare fingers gently squeezed his shoulder in comfort.

" _When did she remove her gloves?"_ Dante thought with confusion before realizing that his mind truly had been elsewhere after looking at the bed in front of him.

Dante closed his eyes and nodded his head in response before he began removing his clothes. Once he was completely bare he laid down on the medical bed, eyes now staring up at the ceiling, its dim lights shining in his eyes. He couldn't stop his heart from racing or his muscles from tensing. He had spent years and years of his life in this position, it was difficult to overcome when his mind continued to focus on the worst parts of his childhood.

Miranda rested her hand on his shoulder as she stood beside him, looking down at his face, "Slow, deep breaths, Mr. Esposito. I'm going to run some scans, you won't feel a thing," she said before walking over to the console.

There was a small humming noise before an orange beam of light slowly washed over his body. Dante could hear sounds from the console as the results were being printed on the screen, Miranda standing in front of it quietly reading over the data.

He was a bit startled when she spoke, interrupting the silence, "You've been malnourished for a long time Mr. Esposito, but that much we had gathered on our way here," Miranda remarked.

"Dante," he replied, trying to remain calm as the orange light changed to red in color.

"Pardon?" she asked, head turning to spare him a glance.

"You can just call me Dante," he answered.

He couldn't see her smirk, but he heard the amusement in her voice, if only barely. "As you wish, _Dante_. You've had many broken bones that weren't set properly when they healed, but there isn't much we can do about that now," she stated, her voice now more factual than amused.

The red light then became yellow, "You're not up to date on your vaccines, we'll have to take care of that before I can medically clear you," she said before the light became green. "Your central nervous system is surprisingly in good condition though you'll need O-E resistance therapy, we'll schedule nanosurgery for you tomorrow,"

"Nanosurgery?" he questioned worriedly.

"It's a simple surgery that all of our biotics undergo so that they're resistant to Omega-Enkaphalin," she explained.

"Omega what now?" he parroted with confusion.

"Omega-Enkaphalin, it's a biotic-suppressing drug," she replied.

Instead of changing colors the scanner was shut down, which made Dante all the more relieved, though his relief was short lived when Miranda hauled a cart over that contained a number of injections.

"They're just vaccines, there's no need to panic Dante," Miranda said, noticing his wide eyes and deep breaths.

And before he could stress any further on the matter she interrupted his thoughts, "Do you have any questions about Cerberus?" she asked as she prepared the first injection.

" _Did he have any questions?"_ he thought to himself. He wasn't quite sure. Although after thinking on the matter for quite a bit he realized he hardly knew anything about the organization he had so quickly signed up to join. All he knew was that his mother had been one of their agents and initially that was all he needed to know before deciding to stay, but now that he had an opportunity to learn more about the organization he wasn't going to waste it.

"What does Cerberus actually do?" he asked, looking up at Miranda as she stood beside his bed, apparently preparing another vaccine.

"In short, Cerberus protects the interests and ensures the safety of humanity," she replied.

Dante could recall snippets of a conversation he had with his mother a long time ago, "What about the Systems Alliance?" he asked.

"Unfortunately there is no short answer to explain why they are insufficient," she replied, but after seeing Dante's curious expression she expounded. "The Alliance is not incorruptible. They can be influenced by anyone with enough power, and if an _alien_ can influence humanity's military, then an organization like Cerberus is not only vital to our growth, but mandatory for our survival."

She prepared another vaccine as Dante processed what she had said. "The Alliance also has a track record of succumbing to the demands of the Citadel Council; they give up too much and gain too little. When the red tape and bureaucrats cost the lives of humans, then organizations like Cerberus must step in to put our interests first."

Dante agreed with her points, but he was definitely lacking a lot of context, "I'm a bit behind on current events," he replied.

Miranda nodded her head, "Your room will have a terminal with everything you want to know about what's been going on over the past decade."

He saw her pushing the cart away and then realized that during their conversation she had been injecting him with the vaccines, and he hadn't noticed at all. She had kept his mind focused on the conversation so he wouldn't have stressed.

"Thanks," he said. She came back with a tube of some kind of ointment or gel, smiling down at him softly, and in that smile he realized she knew exactly what he was thanking her for.

"You have quite a lot of bruises, but this gel should heal them overnight," she said before squeezing out a large amount on her hands. She put the tube down and rubbed her hands together before gently applying the gel on his skin, specifically where he had severe discolorations. His body stiffened from the contact but he simply closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing.

His body didn't know whether to be afraid or aroused, but eventually he managed to force his body to relax and calm down. Rather than tense muscles, Miranda's fingers gently massaged soft flesh. She asked him to roll over and she began applying the gel to his backside. By the time she had finished his body felt immensely better than it had before. When he had rolled onto his back she looked at him with a quirked brow and a tiny smirk. At first he was confused by her expression but after looking down and seeing that he was completely aroused, all he could manage was a shrug of his shoulders. After all of the nights he spent being naked in front of Jacqueline and a camera, engaging in sex, nudity didn't particularly bother him anymore.

"At least we know _that_ still works," Miranda quipped.

Dante gave her a lazy grin before putting his clothes back on and being escorted to his room. He hadn't paid attention to how they got there, far too tired to care, he just wanted to curl up in a real bed and finally have a full night's rest.

"When you wake up tomorrow, use your terminal to contact me and I'll come and get you," Miranda said as she opened the door to his room.

It was a ten by ten foot square space, with a door that led to a bathroom, and a terminal in the corner. Dante wasn't going to complain though, especially considering the living conditions he had previously. Dante headed straight to the bed, collapsed on top of it, and within seconds he was asleep. Miranda lightly shook her head in amusement before bidding him goodnight and closing his door.

The next day he awoke well rested, more sleep than he could recall ever getting in recent memory, and with great anticipation he went to the bathroom and took a very hot and very long shower. He could have stayed in the shower all day, but he was looking forward to a proper meal upon their arrival at the space station. He exited the shower, noting his gaunt features in the mirror, and after drying himself off he looked for something to wear. Surprisingly there was a set of clothes in the bedroom's closet that fit him perfectly.

" _Well, Miranda did run some scans on me yesterday_ ," he reasoned while putting on the new clothes.

After getting dressed he spent the next hour reading through his terminal, not quite ready to start the day with Miranda, he wanted to try and catch up on what had been going on out in the galaxy. A report that had been classified by the Citadel Council and Systems Alliance revealed that an Alliance scientist had been conducting illegal AI research to unlock the secrets behind a mysterious artifact discovered near the Perseus Veil, betraying his fellow researchers with the help of batarians. It was something that hit a little too close to home, but certainly reaffirmed Miranda's point the previous day.

Another report detailed the Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training program setup by Conatix Industries, which was supported by the Alliance; they had hired a turian mercenary of all people to oversee the training, but his methods were quite cruel and sadistic. After provoking one of the human students he was accidentally killed and the program was shut down due to the diplomatic fallout with the turians. Dante remembered his mother's stories about the First Contact War, which made him question why the Alliance supported Conatix Industries' decision in hiring a turian; an asari would have resulted in a less tense and hostile environment.

" _But it says here that the Citadel Council recommended that a turian oversee the program, as an olive branch to begin the healing process between the humans and turians from the First Contact War…but Conatix Industries kept the turian's involvement in the program a secret…though if the Citadel Council wanted to limit humanity's growth in biotics, a surefire way of limiting their progress would be to insert a combustible element,"_ Dante thought silently, slowly understanding exactly what Miranda had been warning him about. One of the children in the program alleged that the turian instructor did not conceal his dislike of humans, and had introduced himself to one trainee by claiming that he was at the helm of the dreadnought that killed the trainee's father. Ultimately, biotic training was outsourced to the military, selected R&D companies, and renamed divisions of the defunct Conatix Industries.

The more Dante read about batarians, the more he detested their race. The fact that the human colony of Mindoir was attacked by batarians and they were unable to defend themselves, even with dispatched Alliance troops, was all the reason Dante needed to be in Cerberus. There were a seemingly infinite number of reasons for Cerberus to exist, but it existed for one reason beyond others: for the innocent farmers on Mindoir. Cerberus existed to protect those who cannot protect themselves from a universe that doesn't share humanity's sense of right and wrong. Dante closed the files he had been reading and promptly informed Miranda he was awake and ready to start the day.

The nanosurgery was as simple and painless as she had said it would be, the operation only taking thirty minutes to complete, and then they were off to the mess hall. Miranda told him to sit down and she walked off to bring him his food, apparently she had eaten hours ago. Dante hadn't realized how late in the day it had been, apparently he had slept for about twelve hours.

"Your caloric intake will be increased daily, for now you will start with this amount," Miranda announced before setting a full tray of food down in front of him.

Dante actually struggled to finish it all; after spending years of starving and being underfed, his body had adapted to live off practically nothing, so he imagined it would take quite some time for his body to adjust to receiving adequate amounts of food.

"You will eat that meal two more times today," Miranda said as she escorted him to an unknown destination.

" _I just ate what normally would have been a week's worth of food at Teltin,"_ Dante thought in astonishment, though it mostly reflected at how bad his living conditions were on Pragia.

After several minutes of walking they entered a very long and narrow shooting range. "We will test your proficiency with a variety of weapons, until your body has recovered and is back to normal this is how you will be spending the majority of your time. Cerberus does encourage each operative to pick their own kind of weapon, otherwise we will simply let your proficiency results decide for you," Miranda explained as she led him to a table with several weapons on display.

"This is your standard pistol, an ideal weapon for biotics as it means less weight to carry around," Miranda explained before Dante interrupted with a question.

"Less weight?" he asked.

"Your ability to use biotics is directly tied to how much energy you have. The more weight you have to carry means you're using more energy, which means less energy for biotics, understand?" she elaborated before he nodded his head in agreement.

"The submachine gun is slightly heavier, is less accurate, but has more suppressive firepower. The assault rifle is a middle ground between the pistol and submachine gun, but it's still slightly heavier than the submachine gun. Shotguns and sniper rifles are roughly the same in every aspect except distance, and they're both the heaviest weapons. I suggest you educate yourself on the specs for all modern weapons, even if you might never use one it's best to be prepared for anything," she explained as she set each weapon down on the table facing the targets down the range.

After mulling over her words and staring at all of the weapons in front of him, Dante didn't even bother testing himself with the rest and immediately picked the sniper rifle up off the table, testing its weight.

"If I ask myself, who couldn't I kill with my biotics, the answer would be anyone who is out of range. I don't have any experience using this weapon, but with enough practice I can get some, and by the sound of things I have plenty of time to learn," Dante replied to Miranda's questioning expression.

"A logical assessment," she said as she tapped away at her omni-tool. "An instructor will be here soon, let me show you some of the armor we have in stock."

They walked over to a locker which Miranda promptly unlocked where three sets of armor were neatly stored, side by side.

"Light, medium, and heavy armor. The lighter the armor, the less weight, but less protection. Cerberus is already researching and developing more specialized sets than these, but something is better than nothing, especially if you need environmental protection, such as radiated ships or in the vacuum of space," she explained.

"The light armor is all I'd need, I always keep my barrier up," Dante replied. He'd like to say that it was from self-discipline and hard work that his barrier was so good, but truthfully he was never safe at Teltin so it was simply a matter of his body being conditioned to always try and protect itself.

"We'll fit you for one after your body has put some weight back on, if we fit you one for now it'd just become too small after a month," she replied.

Soon enough the instructor arrived and Miranda ordered him to teach Dante how to disassemble, reassemble, maintain, and properly fire a sniper rifle. The instructor understood his orders and carried them out very professionally. Dante expected the man to yell and scream orders at him, but nothing of the sort occurred as the two of them spent most of the day at the shooting range. Their only breaks was for Dante's required meals and when either of them needed to use the bathroom. All in all it was a good day, and by the end of it Dante was glad he decided to join Cerberus.


	3. Chapter 3

**Subject Nine**

 **Chapter 3**

 **2176 CE**

"Again!" the woman standing across from him demanded, her uniform ripped in several places, sweat pouring down her face, and her hair disheveled.

"I don't think…" he began to reply but the look she gave him stopped him midsentence. He sighed in resignation before retaking his usual stance and at the sound of a buzzer they began yet another round.

She threw a warp at him that wasn't nearly as powerful as it had been when they initially started several hours ago, exhaustion had weakened her biotics considerably, while he still had plenty of energy. Nonetheless he rolled sideways to avoid the attack and biotically pulled her towards him. Her barrier was too weak to prevent herself from getting hurled towards him and her stomach flew right into his knee, knocking the wind out of her. As she was hunched over he swept her legs, causing her to fall to the ground on her back, her face wincing in pain.

"Match," he said with a smile, looking down at her face that was filled with both frustration and exhaustion. He offered her his hand, and after a long staring contest she grabbed it and he gently pulled her to her feet and draped her arm over his shoulder, helping her walk back to her quarters to rest.

"Wipe that smug look off your face Dante," she said half-heartedly, a small smirk forming on her lips.

"Yes ma'am, at once ma'am, whatever your command ma'am," he replied to Miranda, faux-saluting with his free hand as they both walked to the exit of the training room. She flicked his ear with the hand draped over his shoulder in response, which only caused him to chuckle.

As they walked through the corridors on Cronos Station he couldn't help but be reminded of the first time the two of them had fought. It had taken much longer than expected for his body to recover and get back to a healthy weight, and he hadn't used his biotics beyond maintaining his barrier in all that time, so when Miranda had scheduled his first biotic evaluation he was more than a little anxious. A million questions had gone through his head leading up to it, doubts crept into his thoughts as he wondered if he'd still be able to use his biotics, if his biotics would still be strong, or what if Cerberus lost interest in him if his biotics had left him forever.

Thankfully his worries were for naught. One of the tests in the evaluation room had a line of mechanical dummies, one positioned behind the other for the length of the room. Depending on how many he knocked down with a shockwave it would gauge how much force he could generate, so when Miranda told him to give it his all, he had held nothing back. He had activated the eezo nodules in his body, coalesced biotic energies through his right arm to the palm of his hand, and with an almighty scream he released a shockwave towards the targets. The shockwave engulfed the entire room, not just the targets, it reshaped the very walls themselves, and it continued forward until it struck the back wall, leaving a dent one meter long before finally dissipating. Dante had lost his voice out of shock, apparently Miranda had too. He could never have recalled a time when his biotics had ever been that strong, but then again by the time he was able to use biotics he was being underfed and sleep deprived by Angersol. They had spent the rest of the day working on his control, especially when one of the repair crew for the back wall had said that if the shockwave had pushed the wall back any further it would have hit a power cell and destroyed the entire room. Miranda and he had their first spar that day and Miranda didn't win. She had demanded multiple rematches until she was too exhausted to continue, much like she had today, and much like back then he had helped her back to her quarters.

After the first day of their sparring when he helped her into her quarters, it had been the first time he ever stepped foot in her room. It looked exactly like his, he wasn't sure why he expected it to be any different, perhaps because he thought Miranda was a more important operative than him and may have been accommodated appropriately, but that wasn't the case. As he had been taking in the view of her bedroom he had failed to notice she had been trying to get his attention.

"…listening to me?" she had said, he caught the tail end of her question.

He looked at her, his hand still wrapped around her waist, and he didn't know if it was because of how he had been conditioned to have sex after fighting Jacqueline during his time spent at Teltin, or if her flushed face and his confusing feelings instilled some desire in him, but regardless of the reasons he pulled her body against his own and passionately kissed her soft lips. She had weakly protested but it had been short lived, and soon enough her hands were on the back of his head and her legs were wrapped around his waist as she tried ever so desperately to bring them as close together as possible.

It was the first time he had slept with someone with a clear head and healthy body, he could actually _feel_ every touch, rather than be unnaturally aroused and incapable of thinking of anything besides finishing. The experience he was sharing with Miranda was as intimate and wonderful as he always hoped it was supposed to be, but after it was over with he was overwhelmed with guilt. The sex itself had been absolutely wondrous and filled him with awe, but in the aftermath he realized that while he definitely had love for Miranda, it was the kind of love you would have for a sibling, not a significant other. He hadn't considered her feelings, he had no idea what kind of impression she had gotten by him initiating sex. For all he knew she cared and loved him more than he was able to give in return, maybe she thought he felt the same way because of what he started, and the guilt of that possibility replaced all of his good feelings from that evening.

"I…" he began with a pause, trying to find the words, but soon realized that words wouldn't make what he had to say hurt any less, so rather than prolong the suffering he decided to cut right to the chase. "I love you, but I don't _love_ you," he said before chancing a glance at her face.

Her eyes widened but then an ear to ear grin spread across her face, her white teeth standing out in the darkly lit of her bedroom. "That's a relief, me too," she replied before they both broke out laughing, letting go of all the tension they had been holding in. Perhaps she was thinking the exact same thing he had been just a moment ago.

They finally calmed down and she gave him an affectionate kiss on his cheek, "Now get out of here, I still haven't taken a shower and because of you I smell even worse," she all but commanded of him as she began throwing his clothes at him.

"…listening to me?" he was brought back to the present as he caught the tail end of her question and he suddenly realized they were standing in her quarters.

He looked at her and she was smirking at him, "Don't get any ideas," she quipped before lightly pushing herself off him and he simply chuckled before leaving and heading to his own room.

He made a little detour to the mess hall and grabbed two plates of food before heading back to his place. After he arrived he set the trays down on the desk of his terminal, kicked off his shoes and removed his shirt, and began browsing through the news as he ate. He tried to stay up to date, not only because he was still out of the loop in a lot of ways because of his isolation on Teltin, but also because he was keeping an eye open for Jacqueline. He didn't know what had happened to her, where she was, what she was doing, and neither did the Illusive Man. Dante felt responsible for her, he had come up with the idea of rioting, he was the oldest subject at Teltin so naturally he felt protective of them all, and ultimately he felt like he didn't try hard enough to stop her from running away. The image of her running away from him on that fateful night, the expression on her face, it was one of the many nightmares that haunted him in his sleep. And ever since his mother had been murdered, nightmares had always plagued him each and every night.

He skimmed over a story about the human and batarian colony world of Anhur. Apparently a civil war had erupted over the practice of slavery and it was slowly spreading throughout the Amun system. Batarians and humans fighting amongst one another wasn't exactly news, but it never hurt to be aware of the comings and goings of other worlds.

He saw another article that caught his eye and after selecting the entry he read it with growing interest:

 _The Jon Grissom Academy is the Alliance's premier school for young human biotics. The institution is housed in a space station in orbit over the human colony of Elysium. Its main program, the Ascension Project, is designed both to train and monitor young biotics as well as help them integrate into society after graduation. Unlike the project's previous incarnation, Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training, or BAaT, the training is not exclusively military in nature. The entirely human student body ranges in age from the early teens to the mid-twenties._

Dante leaned back into his chair as his thoughts raced a million kilometers a minute. At the forefront of his mind was concern. After what had happened to him and what he had read about with BAaT, he couldn't help but worry about what those scientists might be doing to those children, it all felt so personal. He was probably incapable of forming an unbiased opinion when all he had at his disposal was his own speculation of what may or may not be occurring at this so-called academy, but what he did know was that he needed more information. He quickly ran a search on the Ascension Project and found a Cerberus entry.

 _The Ascension Project is a renewed human biotics training program. It focuses on the children of the victims of three element zero accidents across the Systems Alliance in 2170, on four separate colonies. On Yandoa alone, thirty-seven children were born with biotic abilities, all of whom were sent to the Ascension Project._

 _Unlike BAaT, its predecessor, the project is not a military exclusive venture and invites civilian support; the project also welcomes visits and input from the attendees' families, which BAaT discouraged. The Ascension Project has three main aims: one, to develop and monitor new implants; two, to work with biotics to maximize their potential in the field; and three, to help biotics integrate themselves into human society._

 _This last aim has an important place on the curriculum, with students given philosophical and moral guidance on the responsibilities that come with using biotics. However, it was deemed necessary to equip the staff with Aldrin Labs-manufactured stun guns, to subdue any student who misused their abilities or endangered others. Fortunately these stunners have only ever been used on a student once._

The Cerberus entry did help alleviate his worries, but his concerns were still present in his mind. He had seen this situation first hand, he had lived it for most of his life, and he knew better than anyone how something with the best of intentions can quickly change into a nightmare. Already he felt like he needed to do something, already he knew that this was going to drive him crazy. He needed peace of mind and there was only one way he was going to get it.

He quickly finished his food, showered, and changed into a clean set of clothes before exiting his room. By now he knew the Cronos Station like the back of his hand and headed for his destination; after going through several doors and elevators he pinged for entry and a moment later the Illusive Man allowed him entry into his expansive office.

"I want a copy of the results within the hour," the Illusive Man said to the vidscreen in front of him.

The man whom Dante didn't recognize nodded his head and said, "Yes sir," in reply before the vid was cut.

"Mr. Esposito, what can I do for you?" the Illusive Man asked while his secretary gave him a glass of alcohol. Since Dante had yet to actually become an Operative, having never had an assignment, the Illusive Man still referred to him as 'Mr. Esposito'.

"I want to visit the Jon Grissom Academy," Dante said almost instantly in response, the eagerness obvious in his voice.

The Illusive Man took a drag of his cigarette, seemingly mulling over the request, and in all likelihood thinking of the hundreds of other ongoing operations, weighing the pros and cons of agreeing, all the while estimating what impact it would have on Cerberus' plans. After what felt like an hour of standing there in silence, the secretary now stood beside Dante with a data pad.

" _Oh, it's for me,"_ Dante thought as he took the offered pad and looked down at it. It was the research conducted at Teltin, all of it, though names and locations were redacted, otherwise it left no gruesome detail omitted.

"The Jon Grissom Academy is awaiting your arrival and we've made arrangements for you to stay at Elysium after your visit. You could use some experience outside this space station and I can think of no better place to start than a human colony," the Illusive Man said.

" _He couldn't possibly have arranged all of that in such a short amount of time…unless,"_ Dante thought in realization before saying, "You knew I would ask to visit, didn't you?"

The Illusive Man took another drag of his cigarette before replying, "I had my suspicions you would ask after the article on the academy was published."

You could never say that the Illusive Man didn't prepare for every possible outcome, but Dante knew that at one point that wasn't always true. If Cerberus had been prepared, Angersol never would have succeeded in taking over the project at Teltin. But after thanking the Illusive Man and leaving his office, Dante realized that perhaps it was because of that mistake, which cost the lives of his mother and other scientists that caused the Illusive Man to think so far ahead.

" _I will never make that mistake again."_

Dante recalled the exact words the Illusive Man had said the day they first met, and Dante couldn't help but wonder how much that mistake weighed on the Illusive Man's conscience. Dante knew that Cerberus operated in cells to prevent the entire organization from becoming compromised, but Dante also knew that the Illusive Man was responsible for coordinating and planning _everything_. He couldn't help but be amazed at the Illusive Man's capabilities, especially when so much was at stake.

When he reached the shuttle that was going to take him to the academy, Miranda was already waiting for him, a look of slight worry underneath a carefully constructed expression of neutrality, but Dante had spent enough time with her to be able to see past her masks.

"Don't worry so much, I'll be fine," he said as he stood in front of her.

She openly frowned, "Don't do anything stupid, or reckless, or impulsive, or stupid…" she began to lecture.

"You already said that," he interrupted with a teasing grin.

She crossed her arms and lightly glared at him before her features softened and she gave him a brief hug and after putting him back at arm's length she slid right back into her role as one of Cerberus' best operatives.

"Obviously we don't want you mentioning Cerberus to anyone, but naturally people are going to ask questions about the research you'll be giving them. Tell them the truth, just don't mention Cerberus. Your mother was actually quite well known before she went off the grid to work for us, so your story shouldn't be too difficult for people to believe, do you understand?" she questioned.

Dante nodded his head, "I understand."

It looked like she wanted to give him another hug but instead she squared her shoulders and walked away, leaving him to stare at her beautiful rear-end. He shook his head to re-focus his attention on the task at hand and began mulling over how exactly he was going to explain his story to the people at the Jon Grissom Academy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Subject Nine**

 **Chapter 4**

 **2176 CE**

The shuttle ride to the Jon Grissom Academy felt like it took no time at all, but perhaps that was because Dante was in no hurry to get there. It was actually the first time he had ever read over the research from the Teltin facility, too many bad memories made him ignore it at all costs, but given the nature of his visit he couldn't run away from it anymore. Studying the data was the most unproductive two hours of his life; not only was he constantly reminded of his horrific childhood which in turn made him lose focus, but he had absolutely no idea what the research actually meant. He didn't understand the nature of the experiments and certainly couldn't explain the results, and that was quite telling considering he was the test subject for a large portion of them.

His shuttle docked with the space station and he disembarked. The security checkpoint was quite thorough, but his identification passed without question and he was permitted entrance. He walked through a long corridor, with adjacent corridors divided with transparent walls. Once he walked into the main lobby he was taken aback by the sheer size of the facility, with patches of grass and plant life sprinkled throughout the inside and a bronze-colored statue at the center. After taking in the view he noticed a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing an Alliance uniform, waiting for him up ahead.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement before speaking, "You must be Mr. Esposito?"

Dante nodded his head in response. "Welcome to the Jon Grissom Academy. I'm First Lieutenant Kahlee Sanders," she welcomed him with an outstretched hand.

"Thanks for having me," Dante said in reply, firmly shaking her hand as he followed her lead further into the facility.

"When we heard you had fifteen years of research on human biotics to give us, well it's quite exciting to say the least," the Lieutenant said with a smile.

Dante couldn't stop himself from frowning, "I don't know if _exciting_ is how I would describe it," he replied before handing her the data pad he had been given back on Cronos Station.

Kahlee looked confused before she began reading over the pad and her face slowly morphed into horror.

"And before you ask, I didn't conduct those experiments, I'm no scientist," he quickly added before she jumped to conclusions.

Kahlee looked up at him, then back at the pad. She continued looking back and forth as she attempted to find words, "Who would do this?" she exclaimed angrily.

Dante began rubbing the fingers of his right hand nervously. "My mother was the lead scientist at the beginning of the project. Then a man named Angersol hired some batarians, killed everyone except the children, and tried to make powerful biotic slaves for some credits."

Kahlee looked even more disgusted than before, if that was possible. "How did you…" she began to ask before realization dawned on her features.

Dante simply nodded, "I was one of the children."

He didn't particularly want to continue the discussion, Kahlee seemed to notice and didn't pry any further.

"Why give us this research? We would never do such things…" Kahlee asked as they arrived at their destination, another lobby, but this one was filled with a variety of humans and even some non-humans.

"Who knows…if one of your scientists can discover something through this research, at least then what we went through wouldn't have been for nothing," Dante replied.

Kahlee nodded solemnly before introducing Dante to everyone present. It was a seemingly endless line of hands to shake and introductions to be made, though one in particular that stood out was meeting an asari. Dante had never seen an asari in person before, only pictures of them on his terminal at Cronos Station and pictures didn't quite do their beauty justice. As such, he had been caught staring at the asari, unable to hide his look of awe at seeing one in person, but after Kahlee cleared her throat to get his attention he tried to recover but failed quite miserable, much to everyone's amusement.

"As I was saying," Kahlee said with a wry grin on her face, "this is Dante Esposito. Dante, this is Matriarch Benezia."

Dante stammered, not sure how asari greeted one another, but opted to extend his hand. The Matriarch smiled at him before shaking his hand in return. Her skin was warm and soft, for some reason he thought it would be cold and callous, but when all you had at your disposal was a brief synopsis on their entire race he supposed there was a lot he couldn't know without first-hand experience.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Esposito," Benezia said, her voice sounded strong but welcoming nonetheless. Dante couldn't help but see wisdom and control in her eyes, it was quite frankly a bit disconcerting.

Her smirk told him he had once more been caught staring.

"I…nice to meet you as well, Matriarch," Dante replied.

Despite how comfortable he felt on Cronos Station, he didn't exactly socialize all that much beyond speaking with Miranda and his infrequent visits with the Illusive Man. Add in a mix of strangers and non-humans and Dante was definitely out of his element, and it was showing.

"Are you a family member of one of the students?" Benezia asked.

Attempting to not openly stare at her unapologetic cleavage, Dante forced himself to stare at her eyes, which was no easy feat either. She had an aura about her and Dante couldn't quite explain it, but nowhere was it more apparent than in her eyes.

"No…I just stopped by to give the staff some research on human biotics," he replied.

Her head tilted slightly, curious. "Is that not something which could have been sent over the extranet?" she queried.

Dante's fingers rubbed together nervously, again. "No, yes…I mean," he stammered once more. "I wanted to see how the children were being treated."

Benezia's hands were behind her back, posture straight and dignified as she appeared to be in thought at his words, "That is unusual for a stranger," she commented.

Dante didn't like where their conversation was headed, but he didn't exactly want to tell the Matriarch to mind her own business.

"Let's just say that when I was their age I was more of an experiment than a student," Dante elaborated before finally breaking eye contact so he wouldn't see the pity flitter across her features. He gazed at the other guests mingling while Benezia digested his words.

"I see. It's not so unusual after all, Mr. Esposito," she replied with the same tone of voice as before.

Dante spared a glance back at her and where he expected pity he only saw a warm smile.

"What brought you to the academy?" Dante asked, trying to change the subject.

Her smile widened ever so slightly. "I was invited by the staff for my expertise in biotics, and they asked if I could speak with the children."

"I imagine asari have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject," Dante thought aloud.

"More than just a bit, I assure you," she quipped.

Dante only nodded sheepishly in response. Any further conversation was halted when Kahlee approached them.

"Mr. Esposito, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?" Kahlee said politely.

"That depends on the favor," he replied slightly nervous.

"Well, the staff was hoping you could give the children a demonstration. We could ask Matriarch Benezia, but asari aren't exactly a realistic measuring stick for humans," Kahlee explained.

" _Did she just imply what I think she did…"_ he thought.

"No offense of course," Kahlee added with a smile.

Dante crossed his arms and tried to look indignant, but he wasn't a very good actor. "I suppose I could do _something_ ," he said with as much reluctance as he could muster, but both women could see through it.

"Excellent, that's great, thank you very much Mr. Esposito," Kahlee replied happily.

"You can thank me by just calling me Dante, I'm not really into all the formalities," he replied, uncrossing his arms.

Kahlee nodded before saying, "Matriarch Benezia, Dante, if you could both follow me we can go see the students now."

They went through another series of security checkpoints before they reached the students' section of the facility and it looked like a combination of a school and dormitory. They passed classrooms and bedrooms on their way to where the students had been gathered and it was a relief to see what warm and welcoming environment the children had, slowly but surely Dante was getting his peace of mind.

"Students…quiet down now. I have two guests I would like to introduce: this is Matriarch Benezia, and this is Mr. Dante Esposito, can you say hello?" Kahlee asked the students, half of them were teenagers and the other half were just little kids.

"Hello," the students welcomed them collectively and Dante couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face at their cheerful expressions.

While Benezia lectured them on the responsibility and spiritual aspects of biotics, Dante carefully observed all of the children's faces, looking for any kind of physical or mental abuse, but couldn't find any. Eventually he noticed that all of them were staring at him directly. Dante looked over at Kahlee, a bit confused, and she was only smiling at him in response. She was gesturing at an open door and he soon realized it was time for his demonstration. Dante along with everyone else followed Kahlee into the room, which turned out to be a biotic training room of sorts.

Dante leaned towards Kahlee and under his breath whispered, "Any requests?"

She whispered back, "Something to leave an impression."

Recalling his experience at the Cronos Station, Dante asked, "Are there any power cells behind the back walls by chance?"

A maintenance technician piped up and said that there weren't, and so Dante stepped forward and lightly stretched his arms before the familiar biotic energies formed in his arm, coalesced into his palm, and with a yell he launched a shockwave across the expansive room. The room was wide enough not to be reshaped by his attack, but the shockwave still struck the back end of the room and left a small dent; apparently the walls had been reinforced to withstand such attacks, which made sense if this was a biotic training room.

"How was that?" he asked Kahlee, but her mouth was hanging open in shock.

He looked over at Benezia and even her calm and collected exterior cracked as the surprise on her features were evident as well.

Dante suddenly became embarrassed before he walked back and stood beside Kahlee and Benezia. The students eventually broke the silence as they erupted into talks about what they had just witnessed, animatedly discussing every little detail about what Dante had done. He couldn't help but think back to his time spent at Teltin.

" _This is how it should have been…kids talking to one another, meeting other biotics, learning and controlling their abilities, not being experimented on by some psycho,"_ Dante thought bitterly.

"Let's thank both of our guests for their time," Kahlee announced and the students all thanked them both before applauding.

Dante covered up his thoughts with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but as he turned to Benezia he could tell that she had seen his feelings on his face.

As Kahlee escorted Dante and Benezia back to the main lobby, she couldn't quite contain her own excitement, "That was so amazing! Dante, your biotics are incredible," she said with obvious praise.

"They're okay," Dante muttered, not really used to compliments.

"Okay?" Kahlee exclaimed in disbelief.

"I must agree. For a human to have such power is indeed remarkable, I have only ever seen such power from my fellow Matriarchs," Benezia added.

Dante looked up at the asari with a little skepticism, having read up on how powerful asari can become with enough time, and time was something they had plenty of at their disposal.

"I knew someone who was more powerful…I don't know what happened to her though," Dante replied. It was a bit difficult for him to accept their compliments when he knew that Jacqueline had a higher potential than him at Teltin.

" _More_ powerful?" Kahlee parroted in astonishment before she shook her head and bid them farewell, as she had been called to the lab about some malfunction with a bio-amp.

"Mr. Esposito," Benezia addressed, Dante's mind had been elsewhere as he thought about Jacqueline.

"Yes, Matriarch Benezia?" he replied, trying to give her his full attention.

She was pressing buttons on her omni-tool and suddenly he received a message on his own, it was an extranet address.

"If you find yourself wanting to speak with someone, about _anything,_ please do not hesitate to contact me," she said before her omni-tool disappeared.

Dante wasn't quite sure what to make of her offer. He had the feeling that she was referring to the pain he was trying to hide, but rather than point that out, or pry for more details, she had left it to his discretion to be as open as he felt comfortable.

"But you barely know me…" Dante couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

She smiled warmly at him, "Sometimes, _barely,_ is enough."

Benezia's last words to him was all he could think about as he was fastened in the shuttle heading down to the surface, though eventually his thoughts once more trailed backwards in his past and he continued to dwell on the other children at Teltin. It was always depressing thinking about his past, but he couldn't exactly control where his mind wandered.

He landed at the port and went through security, which seemed even more thorough than at the academy. Considering half of Elysium's population was non-human, the tight security seemed to be out of necessity. After an hour of waiting in lines, answering questions, and getting scanned, he was finally able to check into his hotel. Dante didn't exactly want to be alone with his thoughts inside his hotel room so he decided to venture out and explore the capital city's nightlife. He had dinner at an asari restaurant, a bit curious after meeting Benezia and the food was vastly different from anything he had tasted before, but then again he didn't really have an experienced palette.

As he walked along the streets he noticed what appeared to be a bar for Alliance soldiers; it had the Alliance logo plastered all over the place and navy blue seemed to be the color of choice. It was loud and boisterous inside and despite the fact that Dante didn't drink alcohol, he thought he could use some socializing. At the very least he'd be able to rub elbows with the Alliance types and observe their behavior.

The bar was at the center, with booths and tables positioned along the walls, and unsurprisingly most of the patrons were Alliance personnel, though Dante could spot a few non-humans here and there. Dante sat down with a view of the door; paranoia loved to keep him company.

"What'll it be?" a middle-aged man asked from behind the bar.

"Water," Dante replied.

The bartender frowned but served him water nonetheless before walking away to serve an actual _paying_ customer. And so Dante sat at the bar and watched. He was a bit astounded with how rowdy the patrons were, and while their consumption of alcohol certainly contributed to such behavior, Dante was pretty sure that by and large that these strangers wouldn't need alcohol to enjoy themselves. He found himself a little envious of how easy it was for them to drink and let loose. After having a childhood of all sorts of drugs forced into his system, Dante wasn't about to start voluntarily taking them, so he continued to sip on water for the next hour until the hairs on the back of his neck rose and without even looking he knew someone was standing behind him.

"Hey pal, you're in my seat," a voice coming from above him said.

Dante swiveled on his barstool and looked up at a man who was twice his size, obviously an Alliance soldier given his casual attire, with a beverage in hand. Now, Dante wasn't exactly small, the soldier standing in front of him was simply _that_ big. Then Dante noticed that the soldier wasn't alone and had two friends at his side. Since Dante had been sitting in the same seat for the past hour, he knew he hadn't taken anyone's seat, and there was no reserve sign placed on it, so by that logic Dante simply swiveled back to facing the bar. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was bullies, and he wasn't about to cave into the demands of one.

The moment the guy's hand touched his shoulder, Dante reacted immediately. He grabbed the man's wrist and pulled down on it, using his shoulder as leverage to break the soldier's forearm. His scream of pain was probably heard by everyone in the bar, but Dante couldn't exactly stop and watch everyone's reactions, because no sooner after he had broken the big guy's arm, his two friends moved forward with their fists reeled back. Dante pulled on one fist in order to move himself forward, and with his forward momentum he punched the other guy square in the nose, causing him to fall backwards onto a table, spilling drinks over a group of other soldiers. The big guy with the broken forearm tried to punch Dante with his undamaged hand, but Dante merely ducked, and the punch sailed past him and hit the soldier he had pulled forward a moment ago right in the ear. Dante hopped off the barstool and kicked the inside of the big guy's knee, he could hear the joint crack and the man fell to the ground writhing in pain. Dealing with the three soldiers had been rather painless, but the six soldiers who were now covered in their drinks had stepped toward him, and they didn't look friendly. They all rushed at him in a single line, one after the other, which made knocking them out all the easier. Body after body fell sideways, falling into a heap of unconsciousness to the floor below and soon enough there was a pile of bodies now surrounding his barstool. It was unfortunate for them that Dante had been using his biotics to briefly increase the weight of his fists a moment before each of his strikes landed.

It looked like two more tables of soldiers were about to jump into the fight but a voice broke through the silence like a gunshot, "Atten-shun!"

Despite everyone's varying degrees of inebriation, Dante could feel every soldier in that bar stand up and slap their heels together, it was quite the sight. He heard a pair of feet moving towards them and Dante glanced to his left where the source of the new arrival was coming from. He could've sworn the voice he heard had been a man, but much to his surprise it was very much a woman. She had short dark red hair, piercing green eyes, freckles across her nose and cheeks, and white skin. Quite simply she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon, the furrowed brow and clenched jaw only seemed to add to her beauty. Thankfully her attention had been focused on the soldiers at his feet, he'd hate to have been caught staring and suffered her wrath.

"Since you were so eager to jump in, you can take these three to the barracks to get fixed up, for the remainder of shore leave!" she barked at the group of soldiers that a moment ago were about to join in the fight against Dante.

"And you," she said, rounding on Dante. To his credit, he was able to maintain a neutral expression, which was quite the feat as her fierce eyes bore down on him. "Come with me. The rest of you, as you were!"

She began walking away and Dante, under no volition of his own, followed her without protest. There was something about the way she walked, the way she held her body, the way she spoke, it simply compelled him to listen and Dante didn't have the capacity to question it under present circumstances. It was as if she had put him under a spell, hypnotized him, and he didn't snap out of it until they were already a block away from the bar. She had been leading him the entire time, and when she turned around her face was relaxed and she was now smiling at him.

"Sorry you had to deal with all that, the name's Jane Shepard," she said, catching him completely off-guard as she extended her hand towards him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Subject Nine**

 **Chapter 5**

 **2176 CE**

"Dante Esposito," he replied, shaking her hand. She had a surprisingly strong grip.

"C'mon, you can repay me for saving your sorry hide with a steak and beer," she said before hailing a shuttle cab and all but shoving him into the vehicle. He wanted to argue that he was quite capable of taking care of himself, but by the time he had strung the words together she was already asking him a question.

"I'm sorry, come again?" he asked, looking at her as she sat beside him in the cab, blowing a stray hair out of her face.

"I asked what brings you to Elysium," she replied, looking at him with a smirk, very much aware he hadn't been paying attention.

"Oh, I was consulting with the staff at the Jon Grissom Academy on human biotics," he replied.

"A scientist huh, I wouldn't have pegged you as one," she commented, blatantly eyeing him up and down.

He wasn't sure if she was assessing him or using it as an excuse to undress him with her eyes, but either way it made him blush.

"Trust me, I'm not," he admitted, becoming increasingly unnerved by her staring.

She cackled at his reaction before punching his arm, "Relax Dante, I'm not gonna jump your bones…yet."

Dante didn't gulp in fear, he just had something stuck in his throat, that's it, yeah.

"We're here, finally! Be a gentlemen and pay the cabbie," Jane said before hopping out of the vehicle and running across the street to a nice looking restaurant.

Dante paid the fare and at a much more sedate pace walked across the street and entered the building.

"That's what I said, the Admiral himself is going to be coming, and I called a month ago to make reservations!" he heard Jane saying loud enough for everyone to hear.

"My apologies miss, but I don't see your name on the list," an employee replied, trying to calm Jane down.

"I guess I'll just have to explain to the Admiral why we can't eat here," Jane threatened, and just like that they were immediately given a table.

Dante had never eaten at a restaurant that looked so _expensive_ and he was sure the credit chit he had been given by Miranda couldn't cover the cost of a meal at this place.

"Jane…" Dante leaned in her ear as they both sat down next to one another, "I can't afford this place," he whispered quietly.

"Don't worry honey, the Admiral is buying," Jane replied loud enough for their waiter to hear.

" _If I didn't see her command an entire bar to stand at attention ten minutes ago I would've called her crazy…actually she still may be crazy,"_ Dante thought as they were brought bread and water while they looked at the menus.

Well, Dante would have looked at the menu, but Jane snatched it out of his hands. "We'll both have the steaks, everything on it. I'll have a beer, he'll have a water," she told the waiter before giving him the menus.

"It's settled, you're crazy," Dante said aloud.

Jane only chuckled in response, "No, you haven't seen crazy, just wait till tonight."

Dante didn't gulp in fear, he was just drinking his water.

"Why are you doing this…I don't even _know_ you," Dante exclaimed in a hushed tone.

Jane quirked a brow at him as she was chowing down on the bread. "Look Dante, I figure your evening was just about ruined by those idiots in that bar, the least I can do is fix you up with a nice meal, right? So sit down, shut up, and enjoy the best steak in the sector," she all but ordered before roughly slapping him on the back, causing him to almost choke on the bread he had been sampling.

He wouldn't go as far to say that his night would have been ruined, considering it hadn't been much of a night to begin with, but getting abducted by this woman had certainly made the evening more interesting.

"Thanks," Dante replied.

"Don't sweat it," Jane replied as she took a swig of beer. "So what do you do?" she asked.

"What do I do?" he parroted.

"Yeah, what do you do for a living? I order people around and kill the bad guys, see, not that hard to describe. So what do you do?" she asked, her hands now resting on the back of the booth they were sitting in, one of her hands now conveniently resting on his shoulder.

The warmth of her arm, the way her fingers were lightly trailing on the muscles of his shoulder, it was all so distracting he couldn't even think of an answer to her question.

His stunned silence was broken by her laughing, and somehow Dante was sure she was laughing at his expense.

"You should've seen the look on your face," she said in between laughs, holding her sides from laughing so hard.

Dante thought about giving her a verbal rebuttal, but instead he opted for a different approach. He didn't know if her teasing had rubbed off on him, or if it was simply her personality that made it easier for him to let loose, but whatever the cause he would remember the expression on her face till the end of time when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her body against his own and was a hair's breadth away from their lips touching.

Her expression morphed from uncontrollable laughter, to shocked silence. Her ears were slowly turning as red as the color of her hair and her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"I imagine it looked something like your face does right now," he huskily whispered.

While the tone of his voice seemed to have a noticeable effect on her, when his words finally registered she shoved him off and began laughing once more.

"I knew there was a fun guy underneath all that stuttering," she exclaimed brightly. Her ears were still red, cheeks flushed, but she was by no means upset that he threw her teasing antics back in her face. It was ironic, before meeting her he had been questioning how easy others had been able to let loose, and here he was, in the same night smiling and laughing with this crazy stranger.

"Thanks Jane," he said, a bit more seriously as he thought about what she had given him.

She merely raised her beer before taking another sip.

"You never did answer my question though," she added.

Dante looked down at the table, " _Oh I was a biotic experiment for most of my life and now I work for a secret organization called Cerberus,"_ he thought sarcastically before looking back up at Jane. She was staring at him expectedly.

Dante sighed, "Well, to be truthful this is the first _job_ I've ever really had," he replied.

Jane looked like she wanted an explanation, but much to Dante's relief she didn't pry. Instead she took a swig of beer before setting the now empty mug down on the table and said, "Well, after watching you handle those idiots at the bar, I think you could make a difference in the Alliance. If you're interested I could put in a good word for you."

Before Dante could even think of a response, his thoughts and the conversation was interrupted by the waiter arriving with their food. For the next ten minutes they both sat in relative silence eating their food and drinking their beverages.

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you join the Alliance?" Dante asked after chewing the last piece of his steak.

"To protect those who can't protect themselves," she answered. There was no doubt in her voice, she said it with absolute certainty.

"But can you _really_ accomplish that in the Alliance?" Dante questioned skeptically.

Jane merely quirked an eyebrow, "I've saved lives, protected lives, and taken lives. I don't think there will ever be a shortage of bad people in a galaxy this big, and the Alliance does the best it can," she replied.

He let her words sink in, and while it made him second guess his opinion of the Alliance he was pulled out from his thoughts when he noticed Jane stretch her arms above her head, making quite the adorable expression, before her eyes settled on Dante and a smirk crept up on her face.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she exclaimed loudly, her facing abruptly changing to one of apparent nausea. Dante could see nearby customers quickly turn their heads in her direction before glancing back down at their plates. The staff looked mortified as the verbal rumbling of the customers slowly began to rise in volume.

"Help me out of here," Jane told him and Dante lifted her arm over his shoulder and helped her walk towards the bathroom before she changed their direction for the exit. The staff was so preoccupied with calming down the rest of the customers they didn't even pay them any attention.

It wasn't until they were over a block away from the restaurant when Jane finally burst out laughing and Dante realized that her nausea was only an act.

"And that's how you pay for an overpriced meal," Jane quipped. Her arm went from Dante's shoulders to his lower back and Jane pulled him towards her body, her head leaning against his chest as they walked down the street.

"So where are you staying?" Jane asked, her head looking up at him with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"The Goliath Hotel," Dante replied.

Jane whistled at him impressed, "And here you said you couldn't afford that restaurant, never mind the fact that you're in the most luxurious hotel on the planet."

"I didn't pay for it," Dante replied defensively.

"Well, I've always wanted to have sex in a six star hotel," Jane said, the hand she had on his back grabbed a handful of his rear, making him jump in the air in alarm.

Dante's eyes were wide, and he gulped nervously before looking down at Jane who was grinning from ear to ear back at him. After thinking back to his night with Miranda he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

"Well, the thing is Jane…I umm, how do I put this…I don't love you," Dante said as he looked away from her mesmerizing eyes.

There was a moment of silence before Jane burst out laughing, nearly falling to the ground she was in such a fit. With each passing moment Dante was feeling increasingly embarrassed as this strong and beautiful woman howled in laughter at his expense.

Jane finally calmed down enough to form coherent words, "Well you big lug, I don't love you either, haven't you ever heard of one night stands?" she asked as she wiped the tears from her face.

Dante looked up in thought before shaking his head.

Jane reassessed him before asking, "You're not a virgin are you?"

Dante's expression almost sent her into another fit of laughter, "I've had sex before, thank you very much. I just…" he trailed off in thought, his mind going back to his time at Teltin, his eyes closed as he tried to bury the horror. He had no idea what Jane saw in his face but when her hands grabbed his shoulders, he opened his eyes to see hers staring right back at him, filled with compassion. It was so easy to get lost in those green orbs. They were so penetrating, as if they could see every thought and feeling that flittered across his face, could see the pain and torment he experienced in his own mind, and for a moment he could see the same thing in her.

"I'm a soldier, and I could die at any moment, so whenever us soldiers get the chance to let loose we live as fully as we can because the next day could be our last, and I'll be damned if I die sexually frustrated," she said with a wry grin. Instead of replying he simply grabbed her hand with his own and led her towards his hotel.

The moment he opened the door to his room she pounced on him. Hands holding onto the back of his neck, legs wrapped around his waist, and her lips kissing his face and neck with an overwhelming hunger. Dante quickly slammed the door shut with his foot as his hands were squeezing at her firm rear, supporting her weight as he carried her to his bed. The blinds to his balcony were open, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the room ever so slightly. Her skin looked absolutely ethereal as he impatiently removed her clothes. She was all but ripping his clothing off his body until eventually they were both naked and wrestling between the sheets. The pleasure-filled expression on her face was hypnotic, he was entranced and filled with an almost feral-like appetite, and as she stared at him with her half-lidded green eyes, he licked his lips hungrily before burying his face between her legs. Her moans of pleasure was like a beautiful harmony of music to his ears, and he was the conductor. They spent most of the night clawing, scratching, biting, licking, sucking, thrusting, slapping, and any other action that might yield pleasurable results for the other. Sweat and bodily fluids had drenched the sheets, a sheen of sweat coating both of their entangled bodies, and it was never so easy to fall asleep as it had been that evening for either of them. The experience had been so unlike anything Dante had ever felt before, both physically and emotionally. Her eyes had pulled him in so deeply that he never wanted to leave the warm embrace he had found in her soul, but like with all good things, they all come to an end. It was unfortunate that his good mood couldn't follow him into his dreams.

 _White lights shined down on him. His naked body lying down on a cold metal medical table, with metal restraints on his wrists and ankles. Various instruments surrounded him, most of which were designed to inflict pain. There was no one in the room with him. He knew there was a camera aimed directly at his body. He also knew there was a speaker position behind him. And the man whom he hated with all his heart was the one speaking into the microphone and watching a video screen._

" _I'm sure you could fetch a high price in the slaver market, more than anyone here except for Subject Zero, but I'd much rather torture you, Subject Nine," Angersol's voice echoed throughout the room._

 _A rod with a round sphere at the end of it suddenly touched his body and electricity wreaked havoc through his body as he grit his teeth and his muscles tensed uncontrollably as he was electrocuted. He would be struck with electricity for several seconds, then he would have a reprieve for half that time, and then the electricity would start back up again. The torture would progress with another device covering him in water and the electrical torture would begin all over again. Another metal arm had various injections attached to its end and he would be filled with pain inducing or pain enhancing drugs. All the while Dante would hear Angersol talking and laughing at him._

" _Your mother was weak. Your mother was an imbecile. Your mother was nothing compared to me!" Angersol would roar and the electricity would suddenly rise to dangerous levels and by that point Dante would be unable to restrain himself any further and screams of agony would finally escape his lips._

The nightmare suddenly became foggy and he was brought back to the real world, with a pair of very concerned green eyes staring at him from above. Jane was straddling his waist and trying to shake him awake. They stared at one another, silence filling the room, until Jane broke it.

"You were screaming," Jane finally said as she laid forward, her head now resting on his chest as her fingers softly rubbed against the flesh of his skin, it was very comforting.

"Sorry for waking you," he replied, trying to slow his breathing, his racing heart could easily be heard by Jane.

"Want to talk about it?" Jane asked.

Dante didn't answer, instead his hands rested on her lower back, pulling her closer to his body for warmth and comfort.

"I used to have nightmares during boot camp after I first joined the Alliance," Jane confessed.

"About what?" Dante asked curiously, burying his nose in her hair, eyes closing pleasantly as he inhaled her scent.

"The day my parents were killed by Batarian slavers," she replied.

Dante couldn't stop himself from tightening his grip on her body, she noticed but didn't comment.

"I used to have nightmares about it during boot camp after I first joined the Alliance. I would wake up screaming and my bunkmates eventually told me to talk with the base counselor or they'd toss me outside," she continued.

"Did the nightmares stop?" Dante asked.

"I still have them every once in a while, but I don't wake up screaming every night anymore," she replied, her lips now kissing his chest and neck.

"I…" he tried to begin but he was still hesitant to open up, not even sure where to begin. He trailed his hands across her bare skin, from her back to her firm ass, back and forth.

"My mother was a research scientist, studying human biotics. One of the researchers got into business with Batarians, he had them kill everyone except the children, and we were experimented on and tortured for the next nine years," Dante said rather rushed, lest he have a change of heart about opening up.

Jane continued to kiss his body, and silence overtook the room until Dante lost patience.

"Isn't this the part where you tell me that everything is going to be okay?" he asked.

Jane let out a half-hearted chuckle, her hot breath trickling across his skin, giving him goosebumps in the process.

"This is the part where I tell you that the pain never goes away, it simply gets easier to live with," she replied before looking up at his face.

Hoping for life to go back to the way it was before his mother was killed was never going to happen, hoping for the scars he's received to disappear, he would have been lying to himself if he had believed that for a second. He knew that there was no way he could throw away the pain and the memories, it was stuck with him forever. And perhaps Jane realized that as well, having experienced something similar, though altogether different, allowed her to tell him the truth.

They stared into each other's eyes for an indeterminable amount of time. Dante wrapped an arm around her and slowly reversed their positions, with her now lying on her back and him on top of her. His hand gently caressed her face, tucking some of her dark red hair behind her ear as he committed her beauty to memory. Perhaps it was his eyes that gave away feelings that he was trying to ignore, or perhaps she felt the same way and was trying to deny them anymore space in her heart, but as her lips opened up to speak he already knew what she was going to say. Dante didn't want to hear the words, despite already knowing what they were, and so he covered her lips with his own. He kissed her soft lips, tongue dancing with her own, breathing in her scent as he sucked air into his nostrils wanting to prolong their kiss indefinitely. His arousal allowed him to prolong her silence, to prolong the moment, and to prolong his denial. Unlike their previous tryst, this time it felt like he was sharing more than just physical pleasure, like he was indulging in more than just physical desire. He was sharing with her not only his body but his feelings as well. They both knew that come next morning, their fantasy of being in love would come to an end.


	6. Chapter 6

**Subject Nine**

 **Chapter 6**

 **2176 CE**

He woke up feeling absolutely wonderful. After his talk and additional trysts with Jane he slept like a baby. A warm and wet sensation on his crotch brought his attention back to the present and as he cracked open his eyes he looked down to see Jane's head bobbing up and down between his legs, her piercing green eyes staring directly into his own blue irises. He threw his head back, groaning in pleasure, before she ceased her loving attention and crawled atop his body, straddling his waist and began to bounce up and down on him. By the end of it all Dante was so relaxed he felt like he could go back to sleep. Jane, however, pulled all the covers off the bed and seductively walked to the bathroom, swaying her hips with each step and Dante suddenly had the urge to join her in the shower.

They looked for each other's clothes in comfortable silence, and Jane would smirk at him whenever she caught him staring at her body. A droning siren in the distance however caught Dante's attention, and while Jane continued to search for his shirt and her pants, Dante walked out to the balcony to see what all the commotion was about. The cool morning air of Elysium whipped at his bare chest, his hands braced against the railing on the balcony as his eyes trailed across the view. However, all the comfort and peace he had enjoyed was suddenly broken when an explosion rang out in the silence and his head darted towards the source and he saw a fireball shooting up in the air.

"Jane!" Dante exclaimed, though he was sure that she had heard the commotion outside.

He could feel her standing beside him in an instant, "The barracks!" she yelled in both worry and anger.

They both quickly dressed and raced downstairs to the hotel lobby before darting out the door. The closer they got to the barracks the more people they encountered running in the opposite direction. Screams of fear were echoing between the tall buildings as Jane and Dante ran block after block, adrenaline fueling their legs as they maintained their long distance sprint. When they rounded the corner they were greeted with the sight of dozens upon dozens of batarians pouring out of a frigate. Dante grabbed Jane's shoulder and pulled them both back out of sight around the corner and they both pressed their backs against the cold surface of concrete.

They were both unarmed and unarmored, and the equipment the colony would need to mount any sort of defense against this attack was inside the barracks, the same barracks that was getting filled with batarians. Jane and Dante were in quite the quandary, and it was showing on Jane's face as her brain was racing to decide the next course of action. While Dante had never tested his barrier against a battalion, he only needed to hold it up long enough for them to get inside the barracks.

"I can protect us long enough to get across, just keep me between you and the bullets," Dante whispered to her.

She looked at him in disbelief before he grabbed her hand and without warning he started running across the street with Jane in tow. It only took a couple of seconds for the bullets to start flying, harmlessly impacting against his barrier until they dove into the barracks through a blown out window. Dante knew the batarians wouldn't be far behind, so he turned toward the doorway and with a scream he released a shockwave. The wave of biotic energy left no batarian standing in its path as it rippled towards the open ramp of the frigate; the shockwave bent the ramp and warped the hull beyond repair, small explosions followed in its wake before the attack dissipated into nothingness. The small explosions had caused a fire to break out and much of the batarians' focus was now diverted away from them.

The sound of commotion behind him grabbed his attention and as he turned around he saw a single batarian crumble to the ground, with Jane standing over the unconscious body with her fist extended. She grabbed the batarian's rifle before she motioned for him to follow with a tilt of her head. They quietly walked down the empty corridors, Dante was unsure of where they were going, having never been inside an Alliance barracks before, but Jane was the perfect guide. There was a lone batarian walking away from them up ahead. Dante would have used his biotics to attack but Jane's hand on his arm stopped him. Dante acquiesced and quietly observed as she silently ran up behind the batarian and struck him in the back of the head with the butt of her rifle. She caught the batarian's body before it could fall to the ground and cause any noise. She dragged the body back before laying it down. She picked up the weapon and tossed it to Dante. He caught it with one hand and held it in the position his instructor at Cronos Station had taught him before following Jane's lead once more, a smile now on his face. They both continued to silently disable and disarm any additional batarians they encountered, working in tandem rather effectively.

However, when Jane peaked around the corner of the next corridor, she quickly pulled her head back and moved behind Dante. He curiously peaked around the corner and understood why she had done that, as the corridor was filled with about a dozen batarians. He looked at Jane for approval, and after nodding her head, Dante took a deep slow breath before gathering biotic energies in his arm, coalescing it into his hand and without warning he released it down the narrow corridor. He didn't bother to witness its effects before he got behind Jane once more. Dante could hear the screams of pain and cries of surprise as the batarians had no means of escape, their bodies were flung against the wall, bones breaking and organs exploding from the impact.

When they finally reached the living quarters, a trail of dead bodies now behind them, the only batarians left were two that were guarding the surviving Alliance soldiers. Jane used her fingers to count down from three before they both rounded into the quarters; Jane fired a single bullet from her assault rifle straight into the skull of one batarian while Dante biotically pulled the other one towards him and punched him with a biotically enhanced fist, caving his skull in on impact.

"Lieutenant!" one of the soldiers exclaimed. The others were in a similar state of relief as they stood up and approached Jane.

Jane held up her hand to silence them, "The colony is under attack by pirates, get geared up," she ordered and just like Dante had seen the night before, the soldiers all responded in unison and they headed to the armory. There was only enough armor for the Alliance soldiers and when one of them tried to offer their armor to Dante, he had outright refused.

"You need it more than I do," Dante replied before flashing his biotic barrier to emphasize his point.

It looked like the soldier had never seen a human biotic before, given his reaction.

"Listen up! We're heading to the space port, keep your eyes and ears open, Esposito you're on point with me," Jane commanded.

As Dante fell in line next to Jane, he couldn't help but stare at her in amazement with how easily she could switch from the crazy and seductive woman he knew, to the commanding officer she was right now.

"Focus Esposito!" Jane reprimanded.

Dante couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed, but he followed her order nonetheless. For all the training he had received at Cronos Station, it could only take him so far before experience was necessary. Dante got the impression that Jane could slide into her role of command as easily as turning the lights on in a room, but Dante couldn't quite compartmentalize like that, or at least he didn't have the experience to pull it off just yet.

The streets were now all but empty as they headed several blocks east towards the port. The batarian frigate had been consumed by flames, thanks to Dante's handiwork. All Dante could hear as they walked was the echoes of their boots against the road. The closer they got to port the more enemies they encountered along the way. By the time they had arrived at their destination they had probably disposed of at least several dozen pirates.

The port was docked with nothing but pirate vessels, with mercenaries pouring down ramps into the streets. Their saving grace was that the port created a bottleneck, so it made their position defendable and Jane wasted no time getting all of them in position to hold the line. Dante used his biotics to maneuver the vehicles on the street to create a blockade and as if on cue the pirates began to open fire, forcing everyone to duck behind cover, while Jane pulled Dante down by his arm so he was no longer exposing himself.

The enemy fire impacted against the vehicles, the sound echoing between the buildings on the narrow street, making it difficult to hear much of anything else, but when Jane ordered everyone to return fire they complied with seemingly no effort.

Dante settled his sniper rifle atop the hood of the vehicle he was perched behind and set his sights on a Batarian who peaked out of cover before pulling the trigger; an instant later and the Batarian fell to the ground with a hole through his forehead. Dante allowed his weapon a chance to cool off and in the meantime acquired another target.

Through sheer numbers, the pirates were slowly but surely winning the battle of attrition, gradually advancing on their position. They eventually were too close for Dante's sniper to be effective and he had to resort solely on his biotics in an attempt to turn the tide in their favor.

Dante biotically lifted a large group of pirates, leaving them exposed and easy targets for his allies to kill before they fell to the ground with a sickening crunch. However, Dante's biotics suddenly made him the primary target for the pirates and he was forced behind cover as a hail of bullets were shot in his direction, impacting against the vehicle.

"I could use some cover," Dante yelled over the sounds of gunfire.

Not a moment passed before Jane said, "You heard the man!" And the Alliance soldiers peaked from cover and laid down suppressing fire.

The pirates were forced behind cover which gave Dante enough time to gather biotic energy into his palm before standing up and launching a devastating shockwave at the pirates; it impacted violently with their cover, many of the pirates being crushed by overturning vehicles while others were thrown back through the air.

Dante noticed a lone Batarian, untouched from his biotic attack, aiming a gruesome looking weapon directly at him, but before the pirate could fire he suffered a bullet through the eye from a single shot of an assault rifle. As Dante dropped back down behind cover he looked a car-link away to see Jane smirking at him.

"I owe you one!" he hollered.

"Yes, you do!" she replied, and despite the fact that they were in the middle of combat, or perhaps that only enhanced the feeling, Dante couldn't help but shiver at the seductiveness he could detect behind her eyes as she stared him down, and in an instant it disappeared and her attention focused back to the battle at hand.

Dante's attack thinned out the pirates' numbers enough to turn the tide, sending most of the pirates in retreat, but they were easily picked off by Jane and the remaining Alliance soldiers.

"Move forward," Jane ordered, and they all vaulted over their cover and advanced their positions towards the space port.

It seemed like the bulk of the pirate forces had been eliminated by their group, but there were still some enemy forces scattered throughout the city and along the port, the latter of which were currently being eliminated by their group. After killing all the pilots and tapping into their communications, the few remaining forces within the city surrendered.

After securing the space port and gathering up the prisoners, the Alliance soldiers finally let out a collective breath of relief before celebrating with one another and releasing most of the tension that had been building up within them due to the stresses of combat. Dante found himself smiling at the comradery and having a newfound respect for the men and women in the Alliance, especially a certain redhead who he found staring at him with those same seductive eyes.

He found himself returning the stare before his eyes caught sight of the numerous Alliance vessels landing in port, and his eyes widened in apprehension when he spotted a news crew nearly running down the ramp, now heading in their direction. Dante quickly detached himself from the group and began quickly walking back towards the hotel where his belongings were waiting for him in his room, but he didn't realize that a pair of curious green eyes had been watching him the whole time.

He couldn't afford to be plastered all over the news, especially considering the magnitude of the attack, it would only make life in Cerberus all the more difficult. That and he wasn't particularly fond of the idea of being recognized and approached by strangers in public. As he entered his room and began packing his things, he couldn't stop his thoughts from drifting towards Jane, whom he didn't even bid farewell. He knew that there was something more to their relationship than just a casual encounter, or at least he thought there was potential for something far more fulfilling.

" _But a relationship between her and I could never work. She's with the Alliance and I'm with Cerberus. She's a leader and strong in every way that I am not…she deserves more than what I could ever offer…"_ he thought with sadness and more than a little bitterness as he finished packing his bags.

He was attempting to rationalize why things couldn't possibly work between them and justify him not saying goodbye, and despite having half-convinced himself that he was doing the right thing, all his rationalizations and justifications flew out the window the moment he opened his hotel room door, and there stood the very woman he was thinking about.

"Leaving so soon?" she questioned playfully, though Dante could see the predatory look in her eyes, which made him take an involuntary step backwards.

"I…" Dante struggled to form words as she took a step forward.

"And you didn't even say goodbye?" she said, slightly accusatory as she pried the bags out from his hands and disposed of them on the floor as she kicked the hotel room door closed.

By this point Dante was merely stuttering and choked on his breath as his back met the sliding glass door to the balcony.

"You deserve…" she huskily whispered as she leaned towards him, "…to be…" she continued, whispering directly in his ear as her hot breath trickled across his skin, "…punished."

As the final word left her lips and her tongue trailed along his earlobe, Dante couldn't help but gulp at how he was both incredibly aroused and absolutely terrified. After her hand began trailing along his crotch he couldn't recall much of what happened afterward as he lifted her off the ground and began assaulting her with his lips.

Several hours had passed, with clothes strewn across the hotel room and several holes now in the walls. Both Dante and Jane laid panting and out of breath, naked and drenched in sweat, legs intertwined in the damp sheets while the cool air from the hotel vents trailed across their heated skin.

"That was…" Dante said in between his gasps for air, "…amazing."

Jane rolled over onto her stomach and smirked confidently before replying, "I know."

A wry smile graced Dante's lips before he brought the palm of his hand down on her rear, causing her to moan in pleasure before she playfully slapped his arm in response. He gently massage her slightly reddened rear with his palm, and she curled her fingers through his damp hair, and they both stared at one another as they continued to cool off from their lovemaking.

Dante's eyes broke contact and his smile faltered when he recalled why he had wanted to avoid goodbyes in the first place; the idea of never seeing her again was a gut-wrenching thought, and Jane instantly picked up on his expression.

"You know…" she began, gaining his attention as he looked back up into her beautiful green eyes, "…my next shore leave is in three months…" she stated, and it took a moment for Dante to pick up on the offer.

"I'm sure I could make the time…" he replied with a smile.

A wide grin spread across her face before she leaned towards him and planted a soft kiss on his lips, causing his eyes to flutter closed. As she pulled her lips away he could feel the bed shift and opened his eyes to see her wonderful backside walking away and into the bathroom.

He closed his eyes once more and reveled in the happiness she gave him before he heard her pipe up and peak around the corner, "You're welcome to join me."

Her face disappeared behind the corner and Dante could never recall himself ever being so eager to take a shower in his life.

They got dressed for the second time that day, both sharing teasing and light-hearted looks at one another, before Dante sat on the bed and began putting his shoes on. He looked up to find Jane standing in front of him and as she flicked her wrist and began pressing buttons on her omni-tool, Dante heard a ping and activated his own, seeing her contact details now on display.

He sent his contact details in return and after she received them, she leaned down and kissed him once more, her fingers curling themselves in the hair at the nape of his neck as she pulled his face impossibly closer against her own as their lips pressed together. They ended the moment by playfully kissing one another until she stood upright once more and headed for the door.

As she opened the door, she paused and looked back at Dante and said, "Don't forget to write, or your punishment won't be so pleasant next time."

All Dante could do in response was nod rather dumbly as everything about her seemed to captivate his attention, but seemingly reduce him into a pile of good feelings, rendering him incapable of stringing words together.

She laughed at his demeanor before exiting the hotel room with a casual wave goodbye over her shoulder.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

It's been over a year since I've updated this story, and this chapter was half-written that long ago too, so jumping back into this story and chapter was a little difficult but I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of things with each new chapter. I'll try to update in one week.


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